


Tales from the Uncanny Valley

by Procrazedfan



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anthology Series, Original Unedited Works, fairytales - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 05:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20304202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Procrazedfan/pseuds/Procrazedfan
Summary: A series of twisted tales made to spark the imagination. These stories are disturbing yet somewhat familiar.





	Tales from the Uncanny Valley

Just one more step. 

This was what the young knight told himself each time before he carried his own weight up the steps of the tower. 

Though he did not suffer from grievous wounds from the battlefield, the lack of sleep that he had suffered from within the last few days was slowly becoming his undoing. 

He did not know why. But he still had the energy to muster up one more step, and another, as he climbed his way to the impossible height of the tower he had broken into three days ago.

His legs screamed in protest as one foot dragged over the other. But he was still able to muster one more step. Every single time. 

The young knight’s predicament was not that unusual for someone in his trade.

In truth, his journey had been long and fraught with many dangers. All of which he was glad to face in the name of his King and Country. Though he may not have had a high rank compared to his comrades through noble birth, his sheer bravery and a touch of luck were enough for him to survive the latest battle in the Crusade.

His company, a troop of men, 7,000 strong had been crushed under the heel of the enemy that had been expecting their attack. In fact, the enemy easily outnumbered them three to one. He and his company were strategically funneled through the winding streets of their target city until most, if not all of his comrades were cornered against the natural cliffs that hung over the seaside. 

The knight would never forget the sight. Large groups of men were practically shoved off the cliff, into the endless abyss that was the sea. Most of them tried to resist, only to be shoved harder onto the jagged rocks that were hidden in the waves below. Even the few that pleaded for their lives were not spared the horrible fate that awaited them. 

He recalled the sickening crack that the skulls and limbs made the moment his comrades were dashed onto the rock. They were accompanied by the terrified screams of men and boys before they were embraced by Death’s cold hand. 

He also recalled the sea turning redder and redder as their blood spilled into the salty water. 

The ones that survived the fall were not spared a cruel fate either. Cruel and hungry beasts that made their home in the sea did not care for the plight of the poor men that had fallen into the depths of their home. 

They dragged the surviving stragglers down in the depths with them, silencing their screams. The only trace of them that could be left was the white bubbles that were frantically rising to the top of the water. 

The young knight was not among those that fought back, nor was he among the ones that pleaded for their lives. He was not nobility, but he was certainly not a coward. Instead, he had made a definitive choice at the moment. In lieu of suffering an end between the point of a sword, he had chosen to jump off the edge of the cliff and down to the rocks below.

He had intended on dying the moment he made his choice. Truly, it was better to die for one’s country, than to live and return a coward, was it not?

However, it seemed like the Hand of God had another idea. 

He did not know how but he had awakened, exhausted, but alive and currently lying on the shore of a place he had never known. After laying for what seemed like hours under the bright warmth of the sun, he gathered himself and tried to survey his surroundings. 

What he immediately noticed was the looming tower that seemed to stretch all the way to the heavens. 

It was truly a marvel to behold. The sheer grandness of its height was enough to make one dizzy, reaching almost all the way up to the clouds. There was also its unnatural shape. It was not quite square but not quite round either, which made the structure twist and coil-over and over again, like the knots of a rope. Were it not for the occasional windows and the chaotic pattern of worn away stone, he could have sworn that the structure sprouted from the earth and was not man-made. 

Ever since he seemed to fall into a trance. Answering to something that called to him. Each and every step he took was a response.

Part of him wondered if he was even still alive. If he wasn’t stuck in some purgatorial state. But every time he met his occasional need to rest, his usual bodily urges, and appetite, he would find himself back from the brink. Every time he had awoken on a landing, his body would be somewhat relaxed and his mind slightly more alert. Every time he ate, he would feel sated. Every time he took a piss, his bladder would relax. 

So, it wasn’t Purgatory. The knight was almost positive that there would be more suffering than this if it were purgatory. And the suffering would be greater if he were in Hell.  
Not that he was particularly worried about being in Hell. He was already pardoned before he was sent out to the Holy War. Everything he did that would be considered a sin would certainly be overlooked or even encouraged by the Lord, himself. He was simply doing his part. 

While it was true that other men in the battalion often took it for granted, abducting women in the night and laying with them, taking treasures that were not theirs to take, he was not so crass. He knew to toe the line. To follow instructions and do nothing more. 

Truly, there was no one else in his rank more dedicated than he. 

So, he confidently stepped onward, with only his bare feet, his tattered uniform, and his rags. 

His eyes, heavy from the constant sight of more flights of stairs wandered to the tightly layered brickwork on the left of him as he took more steps up this almost infinite tower. He did not know how, but it would seem that it knew when the need for hunger or thirst would arise in him. All he had to do was think it and a strange sort of greenery would appear from in between the stone. 

Upon the large leaves, there would be nuts, berries, or some kind of dew, all of which was oft found in the deep woods of his homeland. It was confirmation to the knight that the construction or at least the atmosphere of the tower was rooted in some sort of magic. Magic that seemed to have settled inside and outside the tower grounds long ago. It breathed life into the tower, settled itself in between the walls. A magic that was, at least in the eyes of the knight, benign. 

The presence of this magic seemed to only fuel the knight’s obsession of making it to the top. It had assisted his needs, even before he spoke of them out loud. This further fueled a fire in the belly of the knight, as he made every single step. As he walked higher with each step, he was surer of himself. He had to have been chosen by Providence to make it to the top of the tower.

Of course, he was chosen. It only made sense. How he washed ashore alive, how he was still able to keep going. This had to be why the tower itself seemed to be assisting him. This was his purpose. His true calling. Whatever was at the top of the tower must be his destiny. 

He was certain that it was his destiny. Why else would the stars seem to align in his favor? Why else was he spared from the grave? He was the best in his rank, the most disciplined, the most equipped to handle this particular trial. 

His mind wandered to what he imagined to be at the top of the tower. Perhaps there were untold treasures there. Or, there could be a specific type of treasure. Riches that would allow him to retire? A king that would give him status and the land that came with it? Maybe a beautiful maiden, one who would even warm his bed at night and continue his family line? 

If it was a lovely maiden at the top of the tower, surely she would be happy to receive his company. After all, wasn’t he deserving for all the good he had done in the world? Wouldn’t it be lonely at the top of such a tower? He wouldn’t even need to lay with her the first night or make her feel the need to thrash around. Surely, he would treat her with the utmost deference. More than any man would treat a woman. 

But that was all speculation. After all, he had yet to make it to the top of the tower. For all he knew, there would be nothing but cobwebs and some old hay. If that were the case he would probably throw himself off of the highest window. Such a cruel fate for such a deserving man as he. 

The knight was pulled out of his thoughts when his foot fell through a phantom step.  


In front of him was a door. The red door was partially covered by brick, as though the masons responsible for laying them disappeared. The stonework looked quite weak, as though it would crumble with the slightest push. 

Thankful for such a weak obstacle between him and his just reward, he simply picked up one of the abandoned hammers near the ground and struck the brick that stood in his way. There was no need for him to do much more than that. Even the door that was behind the brick did not need much of a push before it swung out of the way of the knight. As soon as the door opened, it revealed to the knight the reward he believed he earned the most. 

Upon a bed of ivy lay a young maiden. She looked as though she was in a state of death, but upon closer inspection, the knight could tell the rise and fall of her bosom. She was merely asleep not dead. 

She was draped in finery that seemed a little old fashioned in comparison to what he had seen some of the noblewomen from home. But there was little doubt of her nobility. The exotic jewels adorned on her porcelain skin and the silky dress was proof enough. 

The knight longed to wrap his fingers through her gold spun hair. To kiss her pale but perfectly bowed lips. He yearned to know the color of her eyes. He seemed desperate to feel just how soft the skin of his future bride would be.

There was no doubt in his mind that she would marry him. After all, was this not the way things are done? In stories like these, do they not end in him taking the noblewoman as his wife? His mind spun in fascination as he slowly crept closer to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. 

He had already made a vow to love this creature. To shower her with praise and affection until he grew old and died of natural causes. Surely, she would not object to such a life with him? There were far worse men out there than he, who would ravage the poor woman without a second thought and dump her naked form into the streets. But not him. He would ceaselessly treasure this beautiful gift from the heavens. It was a far better fate for a woman as lovely as she. 

He hovered over her sleeping form, watching her breasts rise and fall. Any lesser man would fall prey to dishonorable thoughts but not he. Any monster in his position would grab her dainty wrists and pin her down against the aged leaves. Take her honor without adherence to proper tradition. Without the proper blessings and the rite of marriage. 

If this was not proof that he was the most deserving of her affections, her prize, then nothing was.

As the knight bowed over the sleeping woman, he paid the most attention to her lips. Surely a kiss was what was needed to awaken her. It was, after all, the most pleasant way for one to wake up to. Especially a kiss from her future husband. He brushed his lips against the sleeping princess, eager to taste her sweet breath. 

But it was not sweetness that he found. 

He pulled away as a pair of red eyes sprung open and unusually strong arms pushed the knight away. The tower rumbled as his body slammed against a wall. The earth shook at the betrayed looking woman stared at the man in fear. 

No, this was wrong! This wasn’t supposed to happen to a man like him! At least, that is what the knight strongly felt as he watched the terrified woman hug herself in fear. Parts of the room began to crumble as the tears gathered in the woman’s eyes. The knight tried to extend a hand to the woman, only to feel the earth increase its violent quake. 

The woman tried to keep herself from sobbing as she looked at the strange man who unknowingly doomed himself and the world as he knew it.  
The girl began to change, her body morphing into an unnatural position, then into an unnatural shape. Something that the knight or any of his people had ever seen before. Was this a demon? A curse? 

She...no, _ it _, reeked of death itself. And the eyes, so many eyes. As it grew, the creature was only able to say a few words to her savior.

**“I was supposed to stay asleep”**


End file.
